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Youth Soccer Practice PlansFirst of all, to get a bit of the terminology going, soccer practices are referred to as Training Sessions. So if you hear somebody mention a training session, what they really mean is what you and I typically call a soccer practice. Key Youth Soccer Practice TipsAll practice sessions should have a number of things in common:
Youth Soccer Practice FrequencyAs far as frequency of practice, most youth soccer organizations recommend:
If you go too long, you risk the kids getting bored and burning out. The Four Phases of a Soccer Training SessionWarm Up PhaseBegin each soccer practice with a good warm up. Ideally this will include good dynamic movement and some touches on the ball. I have spoken with a number of different sports trainers, and they are all of the opinion that static stretching is not necessary for warm ups and can in fact be detrimental to players. Static stretches involve non-moving stretches. Touching your toes, stretching your hamstrings, etc. Dynamic warm-ups use movement to get the players ready for play. You start at slow speeds and gradually build up to more game speed so that players can get ready to play. Over the past two years with the high school team I coach, we have experimented with dynamic vs. static stretching in our pre-game warm up. What we found is that with a dynamic warm up we had less injuries and our team got out of the gate much faster. They were ready to play right from the whistle. Individual Skill Phase This phase of the practice works on developing individual skills. It is important to try to incorporate as many games as possible into this phase. You don't want it to look like a structured drill. Drills bore young children. Games are fun. Drills bore, Games Thrill. Keep that in mind when putting together your practice sessions. The focus here is developing the fundamental skills that every young soccer player needs. These individual skill include dribbling, shooting, heading, player movement and proper ball striking. Small Group Skill Phase Now that each child has had some time on his own to work on skills, it is time to bring them together in small groups to work on their skills. Again, remember to focus on games rather than drills here. There are 3 ways to make any game or skill practice more difficult as your children gain mastery:
These types of games typically involve one or more partners. If you have an odd number of players, feel free to participate yourself. Keep these games very simple with little instruction required. You want them to progress quickly from setup to actual participation in the drill/game. |
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This is not a coaching phase per se. This is playing just to play. Don't keep stopping play to try to coach up the players. This phase is just for them. They get to play soccer!